Tamarind season at Crab Circle - Vendors at popular food spot experience slow business

In a not-so-distant past, the once popular Crab Circle drew large crowds from all over the world.

At times, dozens of vehicles could be seen lined along the side of the street as customers waited patiently for their steaming crabs, corn, roast yam and hot soup.

However, since the reopening of the location in last November, after it was closed the previous month due to a vendor's unsanitary practices which went viral on social media, Crab Circle has not been the same. Less than half of its customer base has returned. Currently there are nine stalls, but only three were occupied when THE STAR visited the street food hotspot on Monday during lunch hour. During that time, about 15 customers stopped to purchase food. For the vendors, that is less than a quarter of their usual customers.

"Dis weh yah si right now anuh nothing. Before yuh couldn't even count di amount a customers dem," one vendor told THE STAR. She added that since the reopening of Crab Circle, she has been selling less than a quarter of the crabs she uses to, and, at times, doesn't even attempt to sell because she knows she will not make any money.

"Mi neva come out di whole a last week, a mussi one day mi come out because things slow now. Normally, dem time yah wi would a sell like all a five dozen. But to how things slow down, a like all a two dozen wi a sell," she said, adding that although she is still able to make a profit, she has to rely on income from her other business to make ends meet.

"Yah fi come and stand firm, and know seh yah fi work wid it. Wi still grateful fi di little bit a people weh a support still," she said.

For another vendor who runs her stall with her two sisters, the fewer customers has significantly affected her family business. She said that her customer base is almost half of what it was, and she only receives support from her loyal buyers.

"Before the closure, wi would a sell off like all 15 dozen crabs a day. But now wi a sell like all eight dozen crab suh wi a lose a lot a money."

The vendors have also been forced to increase the prices of their crabs from $500 per crab to $700. There are also others factors affecting their sales such as it not being crab season and a shortage of corn. In addition to that, vendors are selling half the amount of corn, roast yam and soup they used to, further reducing their profits.

"Normally, wi woulda have two pot a soup, but wi afi cut it down to one, and more while it nuh sell it off, enuh. Wi have to give what leave to the homeless them," she said.

Despite the spot not being what it used to be, there are crab lovers who said they will forever support the location. One such customer is Florida resident Roxanne, who felt that she had to stop at Crab Circle to purchase six crabs, less than two hours before her 3 p.m. flight to get back home.

"Listen, the place clean, so why not [buy]? We were eating it before and we didn't know what was happening and now that there are improvements, I don't see why Jamaicans are not supporting," she said.